Cleveland begins selection process to replace judge Bill Moss, who was found dead

Cleveland begins selection process to replace judge Bill Moss, who was found dead

July 31st, 2014by Paul Leach in Local Regional News

Judge Bill Moss

Photo by
Contributed Photo/Times Free Press.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Cleveland City Council will hold a special meeting Monday to establish the application process for the city judgeship and to consider an interim appointee to replace Judge Bill Moss, who was found dead in a downtown parking lot in the late morning hours of July 14.

"We will discuss the possibility of appointing an interim, since we have been without a city judge for two weeks," Councilman Richard Banks said.

Once the City Council establishes an application process, a judge should be selected by Aug. 25, Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland said.

The new judge will be sworn in on Sept. 8, he said.

Moss suffered from a gunshot wound that may have been self-inflicted, Evie West, public information officer for the Cleveland Police Department, said shortly after the judge's death.

Police opened a death investigation when Moss was found in a Fourth Street parking lot between Worth and Broad streets.

Autopsy results are expected to take a few more weeks, West said recently.

Cleveland officials have expressed dismay and grief at Moss' death and extended their sympathy to his family.

"The death of Judge Moss was a shock to his city family," Rowland said. "This is a personal loss to me, not only as our judge, but as a longtime friend.

"I have never known a more dedicated public servant," he said of Moss, who had been a municipal judge since 1975.

"Bill was a real people person who gained the respect of everyone who came from his court," Rowland said.

Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.